Angela Lansbury's incredibly selfless act during Murder She Wrote which helped so many other actors

Murder She Wrote star Angela Lansbury passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday and a number of stories are emerging about the Broadway icon’s incredible generosity.

News of Lansbury’s passing was announced in a family statement, which read: “The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday," her family wrote.

"In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury. She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw.”

Lansbury’s acting career spanned an incredible eight decades and she was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 1996.

But aside from her notable acting achievements, it is actions off screen which are also coming to light.

This includes a classy revelation revealed by writer Tess Sharpe, who revealed that Lansbury did her best to help actors from the older generation, allowing them to still receive benefits in their golden years.

https://twitter.com/sharpegirl/status/1579961837348880390

She tweeted: “My favourite fact about Angela Lansbury is that during her MURDER SHE WROTE era she made it a practice to hire guest actors of the golden age that had aged out of the game because it allowed them to earn the union points they needed for insurance, pensions, etc.”

In response to Tess’s tweet, @jaxbra posted an example of Angela’s kindness in action by using the example of Madlyn Rhue.

Lansbury ensured that a role was created for her on Murder She Wrote because she knew that Rhue was at risk of losing her health insurance due to suffering with Multiple sclerosis.

https://twitter.com/jaxbra/status/1574243659171729410

Some more fascinating stories came to light on the thread, which included Agatha Christie sending Lansbury a letter to offer her approval to star in a play she had written called The Mousetrap.

https://twitter.com/JamesScottUgie/status/1579971140034121730

There were a number of glowing tributes to the legendary actress following her acts of generosity, and one said: “What a hero, wow RIP to a legend.”

Meanwhile another added: “That's an amazing fact. Love her.”

Lansbury was compared to legendary American actress Betty White, who passed away in December last year and was also known for her wonderful generosity as one user simply put: “The British Betty White.”

We couldn’t have put it much better ourselves!